It was a disappointing day at Everton as we lost in the last game of the season. Newcastle finish in 5^th place as both Arsenal and Spurs won.

It’s been a great campaign as we have secured Europa League football without the rigours of qualification. We can look back proud of our side and Alan Pardew.  We need to push on in the summer if we will see a repeat of this next year with the added fixtures that the Europa League will bring.

Right now we can just enjoy!

Krul - 7 - Made a number of brilliant saves, furthermore he wasn’t at fault for any of the goals. In the lead up to the second goal he made a superb save to prevent Jelavic.

Perch – 5 - Wasn’t really noticeable in the first half as it passed him by.  Subbed at half time.

Williamson – 5 - Why does he always turn his back on incoming shots. The amount of times he deflects efforts towards our goal is really frustrating.

I think that most Newcastle fans will admit that before the season began, they were concerned about the size, and quality, of our squad. Andy Carroll had left, with Demba Ba the only replacement, with some scepticism following his rejection by Stoke City, and it was just under 12 months before the money was spent on Cisse, a signing which gets better every time you see him play.

Enrique, as expected had left, in search of greater things on Merseyside, and the two men seen by many as the heartbeat of the club, Nolan and Barton, had also departed, the former for more money in a lower decision, the latter after numerous disagreements with the hierarchy.

Proving us wrong

Nobody could have foreseen the start that we had to the season. Many fans were negative about the season ahead, as were many pundits. It was a truly great effort by the players. It was the relative unknown of some of the signings and the perceived lack of serious investment, combined with questions about the strength of the characters who were no longer in the dressing room.

After an excellent 2-0 win on Wednesday night and an Arsenal draw yesterday, we went into the match with Man City with the luxury of knowing that 4^th spot was entirely in our own hands.

We frustrated City for large periods of the game and had chances to go ahead however, ultimately they proved to be a little too strong for us and despite a good performance from the home side, two second half goals from Yaya Toure ensured that the blue half of Manchester are just one win away from the Premier League title.

Two teams at the top of the form table

Before the game kicked off yesterday Newcastle and Manchester City were sitting 1^st and 2^nd in the form table over the last 6 games. City were 2^nd with 13 points (P6 W4 D1 L1) and Newcastle were top with 15 points out of a possible 18 (P6 W5 L1). This record tarnished only by a terrible performance away at Wigan.

Overall a decent performance from the lads today but the class of City showed through in the end. Arguably two sloppy goals to concede but still quality finishes. We’re still in with a shout of a top 4 finish going into our last match and shouldn’t focus on this result past today. There were some decent performances from Newcastle, with the first City goal putting them in the driving seat. Must be said, no one was fantastic and we have to be realistic on a few who I certainly think could have done a bit more.

Krul – 6 – The Dutchman made some good saves but there were a few dodgy moments early on particularly when he ran very far wide out of box to meet a through pass and nearly got caught out. Was out of character from him but still did enough to get an average rating of 6.

Perch – 5 – City got in behind Perchinio a couple of times today and it probably did not help that Ben Arfa was lazy with his tracking back on occasions. Overall Perch did little; no completed tackles or interceptions. 5 might be harsh, but he was certainly the least effective defender in the back line.

The new Newcastle United away kit for the next 2012/2013 English Premier League season.

Best offer for the shirt(better than from NUFC shop) is HERE. Plus you can qualify for free UK delivery.

April 28

Wigan - Newcastle result

Final score: Wigan 4-0 Newcastle (Moses 2, Maloney, Di Santo)

April 24

Newcastle under 18's latest score

Newcastle United under 18's have won the Premier Academy League Group D after beating Barnsley 1-0

April 20

Champions league qualification - Manager quotes

"I'll choke on my beer if Chelsea win the Champions League and we finish fourth, for sure. But the rules are the rules."

"I really think we'll achieve something special if we finish fifth or sixth. Any higher than that would be astounding really but I think we've got a real chance.

Cheick Tiote quotes

“I’m a Newcastle player – my future is at Newcastle." [Guardian]